Up and Away
by Nishiki-chan27
Summary: Maximum Ride book 1 crossed with DGM. Obvious Max-Fang, not sickening Max-Allen but slight, lots of Kanalee, hinted Lavi-Lenalee. Not as mushy as it may sound! On Hiatus until further notice. I may take it down.
1. So Bloody Typical, Huh?

Disclaimer: I do not own either D. Gray-Man or Maximum Ride.

A/N: In "Black Lace" I got a lot of help for flying terminology that I didn't know from Maximum Ride. Also, the little voice in my character Celesta's head was kind of derived from Miss Max's Voice. The story is told from Max's point of view, like in Maximum Ride. Also, each chapter has a theme song. This one is

Mm! Final note! To see what I mean about Fang and Kanda looking alike, Google search "maximum ride manga". It's scary! DX

****---___---****

"Yo, Iggy? What's up?" I asked. The blind, strawberry blonde kid at my right had suddenly stiffened up.

"I heard something. Big. But it's not big enough to be an Eraser. More like… tall. And definitely human." I let out a breath of relief. We could handle anything, just so long as it wasn't crazed mutant half wolf people. Us being half avian, we were stronger than regular humans. We could kick some serious ass.

"Max?" Little blonde Angel came into my scope of vision. "Can you please check it out? Their thoughts are scary." Oh, yeah. Plus being half bird, Angel can read minds. She's the only person who has weird powers.

"I'm not weird, am I?" Angel asked. _Oh, shit. I gotta think before I say stuff like that._

"No, honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Jesus, Max, tact much? "Here, Fang and I will check it out. Iggy, you're in charge."

"Be careful, Max!" Called Nudge. Ducking out the door before more words came out her mouth, Fang and I were out into the woods surrounding our house. Prepared to fight or take flight, we walked out into the gathering twilight. Suddenly a crash hit our ears. Fang was running toward the sound first and I fell in step.

"Great job, moyashi. Honestly, can you not grasp the concept of stealth?" As we neared, I could see a tall red-haired kid with an eye patch and a white haired kid on the ground looking up at Fang's long lost twin brother.

Okay, I truthfully don't know if they're related, but still. Carbon copies of each other, scowl and all. Minus wings. Dammit, I always forget the wings.

"C'mon, Yu. It's getting dark, and you know Allen's gotta be dizzy from that cut in his arm." The red head said with (possibly faked) emotion.

"His own fault." The alleged Yu replied lazily. "Besides Lavi, you just don't like the sight of bl-" He suddenly stopped when my foot broke a twig. Drawing a lethal looking sword, he turned toward where Fang and I were hidden in the bushes. "Show yourselves- now!"

"Fang, up and away!" I whispered. Just as we were about to take off, a flying… person?! Wait, that's wrong; no wings or anything. Just a girl, about my age, maybe a little older. She looked somewhat surprised to see us, our wings out and prepared to take off. She then smiled, and I realized she wasn't a threat to us.

"Lenalee? Please tell me that it's you, and not somebody else!" the red head said and took a tentative step forward.

"It's me Lavi!" She called back. Fang nudged me as if to say "Why in the hell are we not in the air?!" I kind of wondered why, too, but these people didn't seem to be after us… just completely hopelessly lost. "And, uh, I think we found the people Komui told us about!"

"How do you know about us?!" Fang nearly shouted. That was uncharacteristic of him. It was, like, six more words than he usually said. "Who sent you?"

"Uhm, let's not turn this into a fight. We'll explain everything. But uh, you don't happen to have a place where we can clean up our friend, do you?"

"Get lo-"

"Yeah, sure." I interrupted Fang before something stupid came out of his mouth. He glared at me. I tried to ignore him. "You're probably not going to be welcomed with open arms, but you can stay."

"Thanks." The girl- Lenalee- said. She had a really cute smile. It reminded me of my Angel. "Come on, you guys!" she went over to help out the white haired kid (was that one Allen..?) and we were off. We had probably gone thirty feet before Yu stopped and turned suddenly.

"Yu?" Lavi asked. "What's up?"

"Shut up, baka usagi." He replied. "I thought I heard something."

"You must've imagined it, Kanda." Lenalee said. "I haven't heard anything, and Allen's eye isn't reacting, so it can't be an Akuma."

"Idiots." He made a 'che' sound. Fang signed to me "What the f***?" before I punched his arm. "Have you never been outside of the Black Order? There's more danger in life than just the Akuma. Right?" He turned his storm-blue gaze to me. I was glad of the dark, because I was certain I would be blushing dark red. Fang could see as well in the dark as I could, and was obviously not pleased. That gave me a small satisfaction… for some reason.

"You know about the Erasers?" I asked. "You know, big freaky mutant werewolves? Who are bent on killing us?"

He glowered at me. "No, I'm talking about the _other_ creatures we'd have a hard time against, baka."

"OH MY GOD, Yu was just being sarcastic?! The apocalypse! It's the fricken' apocalypse!" The red head got a kick in the shins that downed him. _I think I like this guy._

"You guys!!!" Lenalee's voice went whiney suddenly. God, I hated that sound. It was the same voice moms used when their kids were being bratty. "Come on, stop fighting! This isn't the time!"

"Yeah, Ba-Kanda." Allen muttered. "We're on a mission."

Kanda 'che''d again and stalked ahead. "Hey, wait a second!" Fang yelled. "You can't just go off and barge into our home!"

"Fang, easy, easy!" I grabbed his arm in case he tried to take off this guy's head. That's when all hell broke loose.

* * *

No, not really. Actually what happened was probably worse, if that's possible. I would've taken hell in a second.

Fang was apparently having a day, and had ripped free of my arms, intent to kill on his face. I was honestly worried for Kanda, until he sent Fang literally flying. Against his will, mind you.

When Fang had lunged at him, Kanda hadn't seemed even remotely concerned. When he was within striking distance, he gave a roundhouse kick stronger than anything I could ever dish out. I could kick some serious ass, mind you, so saying I couldn't send that power at someone is a huge compliment. But it didn't end there.

Kanda drew his sword, and Lenalee had screamed at him to stop. Then, something really weird happened to Allen's eye. My mind got rid of any sound or feeling after that. The world slowed down as Fang's skin ripped and was replaced by a huge, black skeleton thingy. I remembered the shock. I had known Fang since before I could remember, and nothing like this had ever happened. I remember Lavi shoving me out of the way, told me something. I think I said something back, but maybe not.

I think it was the first time I was scared for just myself. Not once did the flock cross my mind. I felt broken; had I lost Fang?

When my senses came back, I was sitting with my back to a tree. Lenalee had her hand on my shoulder, and I wanted to cry so badly. But I didn't want to look weak; I wasn't that strong.

"Max?" came a voice I was very familiar with. A voice that never stopped talking…

Nudge.

The entire flock came into my view, including a teary Angel and… Fang? Fang was okay!

I'll spare the gory details, but there was much crying and much hugging. Angel had sobbed to me "I can't believe I didn't know you left with a different Fang! I thought… I thought…"

"Shh… baby, it's okay." I stroked her hair. _You don't need to feel like you always have to know. You're gonna take my job, sugar._

We had finally gotten back to the house. I tucked in the youngest kids, insisting Iggy get some sleep, but he had refused. Wanted to know more about our unexpected guests. Sheesh.

"Okay." I started. "Who are you, first of all? Names and where you're from, who you work for, why you're here… the whole nine yards."

"I wasn't expecting the Spanish inquisition." Muttered Lavi.

"Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition." Iggy replied.

* * *

So! How is it? I've been rather tempted to turn one of the Exorcists into a half avian after the flock tries to rescue Angel… but maybe not… mmm.

If you can't tell, this is supposed to be the first book. A little before the first chapter. After this next chapter, I will stick to the book more closely. Review???


	2. Dances With Wolves, Sort Of

A/N: I'm going to warn you, the fight scene is kind of graphic. I have a sick mind. So if you don't like graphic things, just skip it. This chapter's theme song is by Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

* * *

"I'm Lenalee Lee; this is Allen Walker, Yu Kanda, and Lavi." The Chinese girl motioned to her comrades in turn. "We're Exorcists from the Black Order, and we work under the Vatican."

"Exorcists?" Iggy asked skeptically. "Like, 'go away ghosts' kind of thing?"

"Um, no. That thing that looked like your friend was an Akuma; those are what we exorcise. It wasn't really your friend. He's right here and that just mirrored him."

"But most of the time, when you see an Akuma that looks like someone you know, it's because that somebody's dead." Lavi added. "But they all have powers from the Dark Matter that they're created from. That one could mirror people."

"Mm hm." Lenalee continued. "The opposite of Akuma's Dark Matter is Innocence, which is what we use in the form of anti-Akuma weapons. Mine are the Dark Boots, these anklets," she motioned to the odd jewelry.

Lavi took over. "Mine is a hammer that can change size, and other stuff. Yu's-"

"Kanda." The alleged snarled under his breath.

"Is a katana he calls 'Mugen'. And Allen's is his left arm. It's really complicated." He said with a chuckle.

"So, uh, how do we fight them?" I asked.

"_You _don't. Unless you have an Innocence we've managed to miss thus far." Kanda said.

"So we can't fight these things?" Iggy asked, sounding a bit scared.

"No. I'm really sorry." Lenalee told us. "But, if you want us to, we can stick around until we're certain there's no more Akuma, or we've found the Innocence." That comment got a glare from Fang. She backed off.

"That would be fine." I said, with emphasis on the _fine_. "We can always use a helping hand."

"Okay! That's settled then." Lavi said, then seemed to think of something. "But I'll warn you, Allen eats a lot. I mean _a lot._"

Crazy mutant wolves, crazy freaky Akuma, a person who needs to eat more than the average teen when we can barely feed ourselves… Yeah, this could only be bad and get worse.

* * *

I woke up, my mind still racing from last night. Had I ever force-fed myself that much information? You know, considering we don't go to school, even just a 30 minute explanation is a long one. I wanted to go back to sleep but knew I had to wake up Nudge and Gazzy and Angel or they'd sleep all day. Fang could take care of himself.

First, I thought of our new guests and realized that cooking was probably a good idea. I was just trying to be a good hostess, but I guess I woke up several people banging around.

"Max, what're you doon'?" Gazzy asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was followed by Iggy, who ran into the table I had moved – shit- and stumbled into the kitchen.

"Max? You remember I'm blind, right? Don't just move stuff." Iggy flopped onto the couch.

"Well, maybe I would, if you acted like it!" I was mostly teasing; it was just something I did.

"What's for breakfast, Max?" Gazzy asked. He peered around my elbow. "I can pour juice." To my annoyance, Iggy stiffened up and looked over at me. Not that he saw me, but still.

"Max? Cook? Let me take over." Iggy moved into the kitchen.

"Hey! I was just trying to be polite to our guests!"

"Polite? Poisoning them is polite?" I tried to push down my embarrassment (which took the form of violence) and went to wake up the girls. I opened the door and was about to shout "Come on, get up" like I always did, when I remembered _oh yeah, Lenalee was moved into here. Oops. _I crept across the floor to wake Nudge, when the young Exorcist (ha! I remember _some _terminology!!) sat up to look at me. She smiled, and said, "Morning." Then she got up and walked over to where her suitcase sat.

Hoping I hadn't woken her up, I shook Nudge. I kind of regretted it; when she was asleep, she was quiet. Love her dearly, but the Nudge Channel was too much sometimes. "C'mon, Nudge, up and at 'em."

"Mmm… whass goon on?" The little black girl levered herself onto her forearms and looked around sleepily. "Wherez the new girl?"

"Probably in the living room. Get up, you'll miss breakfast!"

"You didn't cook, right?" she was suddenly wide awake. "I heard rumor, and, you know, you're okay but, I mean…"

"Iggy's cooking." I sighed when Nudge let out a _whoosh_ of relieved breath. I walked over to Angel's little corner (where she kept all her blankets and stuffed animals) to see if she was awake yet.

I pulled back the sheet to see little blonde curls and big blue eyes turned toward me. "Hi, Max." My Angel said. "Can you do my buttons?"

I tried not to cry over the sweetness of it all. My Angel, six years old and getting herself ready, and still asking me to do her buttons! I would never admit it, but I loved her more than anyone else in the flock.

"I won't tell either." She told me as I finished the last button. "I like you best, too."

That mind reading thing can be a little bit creepy sometimes, sugar.

* * *

After a breakfast (where almost no one ate, due to Allen's… bizarre… eating habits) Angel came up to me.

"Max, can we go pick strawberries?" her big innocent eyes were impossible to escape. We were going to pick strawberries. Whether I wanted to or not. The Gasman finalized the idea, using his obnoxious digestive system to make us all want fresh air.

Once we were out in the sunlight, I was able to relax some. Our secluded mountain top home was untouchable; no matter what happened, it would still stand. I laid back in the grass and watched the birds fly overhead. The Exorcists had joined us, and Lenalee was chatting with Nudge while they put fresh strawberries in a basket. Lavi had flopped down on the grass and looked asleep, but Allen was talking to him so he couldn't be actually asleep. Kanda wasn't even remotely relaxed; he reminded me of an older, taller Fang…

"Max, if you can make a cake, I can make strawberry shortcake." Angel told me.

"Max? Make a cake?" Iggy replied.

"Shut up! So I'm not a great cook, but I can still kick your butt!" I snapped, much to Gazzy's amusement. Iggy's hands were up in denial and I put two and two together. Gazzy could mimic voices; must've been him. "Oh, man, I'm sorry Iggy!"

Suddenly, Angel screamed.

* * *

Erasers had piled into the clearing, alongside several more of those Akuma-thingies. I didn't think, as Jeb had taught us. Our dead foster father (a previous whitecoat) had told to not think- just act. Apparently, the Exorcists had been taught the same. In a second, Lenalee's Dark Boots had materialized and Allen's arm had changed. Lavi and Kanda were back-to-back, protecting an unconscious Gazzy.

An Eraser punched me so hard I tasted blood. I could barely see Fang against and Eraser, and doing really well. Until two more ganged up on him. I tried not to scream.

Iggy was up, but one of his sightless eyes was swelling shut.

I felt unreal, robotic, in a fight. I was beyond shock- beyond feeling. I just had to survive for my family.

Suddenly, Lavi was taken out. He had been drug down by a couple of Erasers and an Akuma was hanging around- probably waiting for a chance to strike. I leapt toward Kanda and Gazzy, only to be grabbed with my hands pinned behind my back. An Eraser punched me in the stomach so hard I was floored. Pain exploded in my gut, and Lenalee landed gracefully on his head. I tried to ignore the blood spattered across my shoes and sick crack of his skull exploding. "Thanks," I managed as she took off into the air again.

I was ready to kill when I heard Nudge crying and Angel's screams. I looked up to see two Erasers holding Nudge's hands and feet. They were swinging her back and forth and with a violent jolt sent her flying. She slammed into a pine tree, and with a pained wail lay in a lump among the pine needles.

With a cry of rage (muffled by the iron-taste of blood in my mouth), I clapped my hands around an Eraser's wolf ears. He shrieked, bloodcurdling, as his sensitive eardrums popped. His hands were stained with blood from his own ears. I kicked him out of my way and heard Angel's small scream of "Max!"

Spinning, I saw and Eraser holding her by the arms. I raced toward her, jumping Iggy, now unconscious, my vision tinted red.

A skeletal Akuma blocked me and raked metal claws across my face. I fell back, feeling the welts pour blood. It excited a ball-shaped Akuma and it sent a shower of bullets across the trees. A white lump came in front of me, catching the bullets. Behind the mask, I saw grey eyes, full of concern and fear. Allen, I realized. _He may be a fighter, but this is probably out of his league… it's out of mine._

He was knocked sideways by an Eraser, and I was pinned by two. Three more piled on Allen, and blood spurted from his mouth when one landed on his chest. One kicked his side and with a cough, his eyes rolled back into his head as he was knocked unconscious. I saw with horror that three Erasers were stuffing Angel, my baby, into a sack. She was crying and screaming, until one of the blokes hit her.

I struggled and tried to sound ferocious as I yelled, but I only got a hoarse "Get _off_ me, you stupid, freaking-" I choked as my chest was slammed.

The Eraser leaned over me, smiling like a madman.

"Max," he said with feeling, as my stomach clenched. He looked familiar. "Good to see you again." Like a conversation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the standing Exorcists still fighting the Akuma. "You look like crap. You always acted so much better than everyone else, so this cheers me up."

"Who are you?!" I gasped. Lavi had been slashed by and Eraser and an Akuma pointed its guns at him. Lenalee landed on it and it exploded. With a graceful leap she kicked down the Eraser who had cut Lavi. Where was Kanda?

The Eraser grinned, and his wolf-fangs showed, barely fitting his mouth. "You don't recognize me? I guess I have grown some."

My eyes went wide when I realized who it was. "Ari," I whispered, horrified. He laughed like a villain. Then he stood and his black booted foot came at my head. My head jerked to one side and everything went black as I tried to make sense of the situation. Ari was Jeb's son. The School had turned him into an Eraser.

He was seven years old.

* * *

Hm. Next chapter will begin with Kanalee. Just a forewarning. Not super mushy, but it's still Kanalee. Review?


	3. Losing You

A/N: this chapter is voiced by Lenalee. This chapter's theme song is by Sia, "Breathe Me".

* * *

There are no words for what I felt.

I had rushed in to help Lavi against an Akuma and an Eraser when I saw Max about to be killed. Allen was on it, so I could still help Lavi. But he had been pinned by a huge Eraser, and kicked by another. I saw the blood, even though he was halfway across the clearing; I felt the pain.

Dropping on the Akuma made me feel somewhat better, the feeling I could avenge my friend. But the Eraser… he was in for it. Kicking him, I punched that idiot in the face. I recoiled, and let loose with another punch. He grabbed my wrist and swung me onto the ground.

I had distantly heard Lavi's shout of "Lenalee!" when my head cracked against the ground. My breath had been knocked from my body, paralyzing me so I couldn't fight back. I had to watch as the Eraser slammed into Lavi, knocking him off balance and swinging his fist into Lavi's side.

Struggling to my knees, I saw Kanda rush an Eraser who had turned toward me. His sword went cleanly through the wolf-man's chest. That shriek hurt my ears, but I'd live. These monsters had hurt my friends…

My family.

Kanda grabbed my arms and helped me to my feet. Tears stung my eyes, but I couldn't cry. Not here. "Thanks," was all I could manage.

His sweet, storm-blue eyes lit slightly, the way they only did for me. A dull _thud _sounded and Kanda fell forward, onto the ground in front of my feet. I hadn't ever thought that could happen; Kanda had always been impossibly strong, no one could hurt him…

I felt myself break.

Everything was distant, and I couldn't focus. I dimly remember screaming. I didn't realize I had been hurt by an Eraser until I saw the blood pooling near my eyes, but I think I might've killed him for holding me back as my Kanda was taken from me.

Was this me?

Something was wrong.

Had I… finally broken?

No. No way.

There are no words for that feeling.

* * *

Everything was numb.

I had watched as the flock flew off after the black car, toward a helicopter. I had seen Lavi help Allen to his feet, and dragged him over to where I sat. My face hurt where I had been scratched because of the tears flowing into the cuts.

I don't remember what happened until we were back in the flock's home. That part was blurred out.

I sat with Lavi, my back to the wall. I felt like death. No, actually, I think I'd rather take death than this.

How many times had I lost people I loved? All of them combined didn't even begin to cover what I was feeling.

"Lenalee," Lavi moved into my line of sight. I kind of raised my head. "Do you need anything?"

What a stupid question. I should've gotten mad, but I couldn't. My emotional capacity was too small to hold anything but shock and sorrow.

_God, please make this end._

* * *

The flock rolled in after what felt like years. The first thing that Iggy did was violently sweep Angel's breakfast plate off the table. His arm hit a mug, and it flew into Fang's head with a _thunk_. I had to look away from Max's face. That look probably mirrored mine; impossible to look at. I felt a fresh wave of tears flow down my now-patched cheeks.

"Watch it, idiot!" Fang yelled at Iggy, an intent to kill under the words. He suddenly seemed to realize what he had said, and clenched his teeth.

Max started crying when the shouting began. I curled into a tiny ball on the floor. Lavi put a gentle arm around my shoulders and _shh_ed me. I couldn't look up at anyone right now. I simply listened to everything… anything.

"You watch it!" came Iggy's shout in reply. "What _happened_? I mean, you guys can _see,_ can't you? Why couldn't you get Angel?!"

"They had a chopper!" Gazzy yelled. "And guns! And those Akuma thingies! We're a lot of things, but we're not _bulletproof_!"

"Easy!" Allen had said, and max had yelled out "Guys! Guys! We're all upset. But _we're _not the enemy. They are."

I looked up at those words. I felt a doubt lurking in my heart, the way it did when I thought about whether or not I was actually fighting for the better of the world or not. The Akuma and the Noah weren't their battle; why had they gotten involved?

There was silence for a long time while Max thought. Iggy was comforting Nudge on the couch.

"Take deep breaths," Gazzy had told Max, looking concerned. It was adorable, I'd admit. Max looked close to tears. Fang was silent as he ate something from a can.

"You know, if they wanted to kill her, or all of us, they could've." Nudge said shakily. "They had guns."

"And Akuma." Allen added. "Akuma are built only to kill people."

"Yeah, they wanted Angel _alive_. They didn't care if we were alive or not, but they didn't go out of their way to make sure we were dead. So maybe we have time to go after Angel."

"But they had a chopper." Gazzy said. "They're gone. They could be anywhere. Like, in China, or something."

I almost laughed out loud. The bitter irony. We lost Allen for a while back in China. I had lost my family in China. I had been separated from my brother in China. How perfect would it be if they had been taken to China. "I don't think they're in China." Max told him.

"I know where they took them." Fang said. I realized with a start it was the first time anyone had acknowledged the fact that Kanda was gone, too.

"And where's that?" Iggy asked raising his head. His blind eyes were bloodshot from unshed tears.

"The School." Fang and Max said at the same time.

Even us Exorcists knew about that place. It had been in the reports, but we hadn't thought it mattered.

Everyone in the flock reacted as if they had seen a snake. A really big snake.

"They took Angel back to the school? Why?" Gazzy asked, fear on his face.

"I thought they forgot about us!" Nudge almost wailed.

"Jeb took us without permission, remember?" Max asked.

"Jeb knew they would do anything to get us back. If anyone discovered what they did to us, it would be the end of the School." Fang explained.

"Apparently they'd even get the Millennium Earl's services." Lavi said softly.

"Why don't we, like, go tell on them?" Nudge demanded. "We could go to a TV station and tell everyone and say, Look, they grew wings on us, and we're just little kids, and-"

"Okay that would fix _them_," Iggy interrupted. "But _we'd _end up in a zoo."

"What are we gonna do, then?" Gazzy asked, panicking. Fang got up and got some old papers from a different room. They were yellowed and looked nibbled.

"Here," Fang said, pushing the papers to Max. Allen got up, and Lavi followed him. Wiping off any tears on my face, I pushed myself upward. Amazed I could still walk, I joined the group. Fang popped open a wax seal on an envelope.

"What is that?" Gazzy asked.

"A map of a secret society, in California. The School." Max said tightly. "We're going to go rescue Angel."

"Yeah!" Nudge exclaimed. "'Coz, you know, we can't let those evil people keep her. They're monsters. They're gonna do bad things to her. Hurt her. But there's five of us, so the rest of us have to go get _hmph_-"

Max had her hand around Nudge's mouth. Nudge peeled the fingers away. "So, uh, how far is it?"

"Six hundred miles, or so." Fang replied. "At least a seven hour flight."

"But you also have to factor in the fact that we, uh, Allen and I can't fly. Lenalee can in a weird way." I resisted the urge to punch him. "So, um, six hundred miles by car, or trains would be more efficient…"

"_You _Exorcists are staying here. Along with Gazzy and Iggy." Max said with finality. "Fang, Nudge, and I will go to get Angel."

"What?!" Allen and Gazzy yelled in unison.

"That's _my_ sister you're talking about!"

"What about the Akuma?"

"This is because I'm blind, right?!" Iggy cried.

"Iggy, you're great around here when you know where everything is, but having you in a new place will be bad if we get in fight." Max said, trying to calm him down. "And Gazzy, we'll be going major miles. You're only eight years old."

"Jeb wouldn't have made us stay," Iggy snarled. "Never."

"Maybe not, but we'll never know."

"Uhm, Max?" I finally found my voice. It was rough. "If you do run into Akuma, you'll need somebody with an Innocence to help out. Like Lavi said, I can fly in the loosest definition of the word."

She pressed her lips together. I knew how she felt; it seemed like I was often relied on to keep my head in situations like these. Be strong. Invincible.

Finally, she sighed. "It makes sense. But the rest of you are staying! Now get your gear together."

* * *

We took off, leaving behind the house on the mountain. I wondered if it was selfish of me to go with Fang and Max and Nudge, when I knew it wasn't for the Akuma.

It was for my heart.

* * *

A/N: yeah! Done! Now the excitement comes! Woot! Anyway, I'm still debating many things. So if I don't update for a couple of weeks, it's because of a writer's block. But I'll warn you before I go on a hiatus. I'm also working on another fic right now (Black Lace) so if I hit a writer's block, I'll most likely be updating that one. Not that you have to read it. Review?


	4. I Knew They'd Get Into Trouble

A/N: It's back, finally! I had no creativity whatsoever. But I really, really, REALLY wanted Lavi to hijack a helicopter. So here it is! Also, I'm going to warn you before I jump around with POVs. This chapter's theme song is "Circles" by Switchfoot.

* * *

**Author's POV**

Okay, no-one ever said Kanda had never been a let-down, but this was a little bit much. I mean, c'mon. Kanda was getting tired quickly of his greeting at their destination.

"What the hell? This isn't the bird-kid!" the Eraser yelled.

"You sure, Ari?" asked another sarcastically. "I couldn't tell."

"Shut up! You're the idiots who brought it in!"

"Calm down, please. Just bring in the specimens. If the older one's not of any use, we'll just throw it out." A man in a white coat came out before the Erasers started ripping each other's throats. Kanda flinched at the word… "it." After that, both Kanda and Angel had been thrown un-lovingly into dog crates. Kanda had been stripped of his Mugen, so they were unarmed and currently at the nutcase's mercy.

Angel was often gone, leaving Kanda quite alone with his thoughts. Those had lately been getting stranger and harder to deal with.

The School was a place where experiments were done on people, genetic tests took place, people and animals were stretched to their limits. Not unlike what had happened to him, so long ago…

This was slowly getting harder. He couldn't stand this. His healing powers had been isolated by the nutcases, so he had to use them continually, taking a toll on himself. Finally, he couldn't heal. Burns that he normally wouldn't notice hurt because they weren't treated correctly, just left there to see how much he could do, or how far he could stretch.

At this rate, it was more of a question of how far he could go. Angel often updated him on what the whitecoats were thinking about when she could figure it out. She also explained everything about this place, the School. She was terrified; things had gotten worse since the flock escaped. Kanda hated the taunting from the Erasers and the annoying superiority from both the Akuma (when did _they_ seem superior?!) and the whitecoats. He hated feeling so helpless.

Kanda finally stopped putting up with it. The next time he saw an Eraser, they were so getting it. It was earlier than he would've thought. Ari had turned up with a whitecoat, and leaned down to look Kanda in the eye (hard considering the bars separating them). He grinned, showing all of his fangs.

"So, how ya doing? You're such an idiot. We've heard a lot about you, and it must be so degrading to be stuck in a crate after all this 'amazing' stuff you've apparently done. Now look at you," Ari taunted, idiotically. Kanda knew he didn't look as amazing as he usually did, what with several bruises from being slapped around by Erasers, but that didn't change the fact he took _none of that._ He smiled like an apprehended murderer (probably the only way he knew how to) and shoved the crate onto Ari's shoes, putting the whole of his weight onto Ari's feet. He heard the satisfying sound of small bones cracking and breaking. _Ha._ _Serves him right,_ Kanda thought viciously. Ari was screaming like a little girl, like the little kid he was inside. Angel watched with wide eyes, looking pretty scared, but at the same time she was grinning so she must've been thinking the same thing as him.

After Kanda had been shoved into the wall again, after being slammed against floor several times, ouch, he was pretty certain Ari wasn't going to be talking to him again anytime soon.

* * *

**Author's POV (again)**

"That's not FAIR!" Gazzy yelled, almost ready to tear his hair out. Why did they have to stay behind?! "Not fair! Not fair at all!"

"At least your reason is better than 'you'll be a liability if we bring you along because you can't do anything.'" Iggy muttered.

Allen just watched, getting more and more nervous as Lavi, Iggy and Gazzy all freaked out in one corner of the living room.

"How much do you bet we could throw all of Lenalee's things out of the window?" Lavi asked Allen. "I bet twenty."

"Leave me out of this! Besides, I don't have that kind of money!" Allen cried, still huddled across the room from the malicious teens. "I mean, makes sense, you know? We can't fly and it would take to long by train or car, and there was a helicopter…"

Lavi suddenly sat up. "That's it!" he snapped his fingers and pointed at Allen, grinning. "You can be an evil genius when you want to be, Allen!"

_Oh great, now I'm Dr. Evil. Wonderful._ "What do you mean..?" he asked weakly, not wanting to know in all truthfulness.

"Hey, Iggy, can you really make explosives?" Lavi asked. Iggy gave him a look. "'Kay, since you can, I can probably hijack a helicopter. Then we can fly out to California. It'll be great." He was sill grinning. "I'll get as much information on hijacking as possible, and then we'll steal their chopper while they're busy with the bomb, head out to California, prove we're not liabilities…" Allen had the feeling this was less about wanting to fight than male pride. Too bad Allen had almost none. He was not a proud creature.

"Oh, I really like this idea. You're pretty cool, for a not-flock member." Iggy said turning in Lavi's general direction.

"Thanks. You're pretty cool for a non-order member." Lavi replied with a grin. Allen had a very, very bad feeling about this.

* * *

**Max's POV**

I love flying. There, I said it. For all of you who wish you could fly, it's everything you've ever imagined and way more.

Well, I mean, provided you're not on a rescue mission trying to escape crazy lupine-human hybrids with access to firearms and helicopters. But otherwise.

Nudge was dancing across the winds, almost knocking into Lenalee, who had been very somber and silent and was getting on my already short nerves. I resisted the urge to smack her, shake her and tell her to "snap the_ f_ out of it". But I try not to swear around the kids. Fang inclined his head toward me slightly, his ebony eyes boring into mine. It made my face hot for a moment, until I realized he was pointing towards Lenalee, telling me to do something about her. I rolled my eyes, the universal sign for "yeah, yeah, got it. Whatever."

"Hey Max?" Nudge cut in front of me. "I'm hungry. Can we stop? Please?"

I really didn't want to; the last time we stopped we fell asleep and now we were running out of time. But my own stomach was snarling something awful, so I nodded and dipped toward the city passing below us. I guess Lenalee didn't get the message.

"Why are we going down? We can't possibly be there yet," the Chinese exorcist said in her annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"No, we aren't." I replied. "We're in Arizona. But we need to make a pit stop. The flock and I have really high metabolisms." I was pretty surprised she wasn't freaking out; maybe being anorexic helped. I'm not exactly regular weight for a girl of my height and age, but I also don't have knobby knees and jutting collarbones. Was that popular where she's from?

Okay, okay, so I was being kinda petty about Fang watching her the whole time. And the fact that she had the kind of life where she could wear skirts. And I really couldn't even if I wanted to. Guess I'm just a special breed of girl. Hint the sarcasm.

Just then, I could hear (and see) a commotion below us. SuperMax leapt into action. I guess Fang saw because he said, in his most Fang-like way "No."

Like I've ever listened to him.

I dove down and landed hard, having to run so as not to break my face on the ground. Showtime.

* * *

**Author's POV**

"Man, is Max gonna be surprised. What color is this wire?" Iggy asked Gazzy, who was sitting next to him, helping create a bomb. Lavi and Allen were off staking out the area, hoping to figure something out, and maybe find a helicopter. "Yellow," he replied. "Okay. Keep track of this one. Don't mess it up with the red wire, 'kay?"

"Got it." Gazzy watched the wire. It wasn't escaping on his watch. "Uhm, Iggy?" Gazzy nervously looked down as Iggy gave a nonattached grunt. "What do you think of the exorcists?"

Iggy paused focusing on his work to keep from answering. "You answer first."

Gazzy sighed softly. "I guess… I don't really trust non-flock members, so I guess I feel like they're just people. I'm not really attached to any of them. They're just gonna go away again, right?"

"Yeah." Iggy replied. "We can't get too close, or we'll really be liabilities. They're going to leave and we'll still feel like… like…" he growled softly. "It'll be like Jeb, all over again." He gritted his teeth. "Hand me the yellow wire, okay?"

_-*-_

**Max's POV**

_Stupid thugs shot me..! How?! People can't usually catch me!_ I winced as more blood gushed out of my shoulder. My wing was crumpled awkwardly against my back, and I could feel the cold settling over it, making it unusable. _God, why didn't I listen to Fang? I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have… _I could feel tears burning my eyes. Being all un-emotional and hating anything all gushy, I got angry and wanted to punch something.

"C'mon, Magnolia! We're gonna get wet!" the girl from earlier! Maybe she might… I back tracked several steps. I had never trusted anyone but the flock. But I needed medical attention. Need for medical attention, trust issues, need for medical attention, trust issues… impossible conundrums.

Medical attention won out, for the record. "Ella," I called weakly.

Her eyes widened with recognition. "Oh! It's you from before! Hey, thanks for-"

"No problem. Uhm, hey, I kinda…" I moved my hand, so she saw the mess that was my shoulder. She gasped. "Ah! Come inside! My mom's a veterinarian!" _eh… how beyond perfect, right?_

* * *

**Author's POV (score!)**

The explosion had a huge, resounding boom. Lavi liked the sound, but realized just how screwed they were as the trees began to catch fire. Gazzy had shrieked and took to the skies as soon as the first sparks hit the fir trees. Iggy had stuck around, just to make sure the exorcists got underway. The helicopter was standing idle, considering the Erasers had just piled out of it. He pushed some random bits of Akuma off the seats and floor (yuck) and finally, the doubt settled over the Bookman-In-Training.

"Oh man, oh man…" Lavi was looking at the cockpit of the helicopter, his palms sweaty. "I don't think I can do this…"

"We don't have that kind of time! Come on!" Iggy shoved him inside, hoping to be clear of the burning forest, _fast_. He snapped out his long, pale grey wings and shot upward after Gazzy. Allen looked more scared than Lavi as he slid into the cockpit.

"Guess we don't have a whole lot of choice, now, huh?" Lavi asked, smiling nervously.

"We could just go back to the mountain house?" Allen asked hopefully.

Lavi narrowed his emerald eye playfully. "Nu-uh, chicken moyashi." The white-haired teen sighed sadly. His day was just so bad.

* * *

A/N: Yeah! I finished it! Score! Ah ha ha! I win! Thanks for sticking with me. Please review?

P.S. I've been tempted to graft some kind of DNA into Kanda… thoughts? Questions? Comments? Nasty remarks? :3


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